Work

Psychological interventions and the immune system: A meta-analytic review and critique.

Year: 2001

Type: article

Abstract: This article reviews evidence for the hypothesis that psychological interventions can modulate the immune response in humans and presents a series of models depicting the psychobiological pathways through which this might occur. Although more than 85 trials have been conducted, meta-analyses reveal only modest evidence that interventions can reliably alter immune parameters. The most consistent evidence emerges from hypnosis and conditioning trials. Disclosure and stress management show scattered evidence of success. Relaxation demonstrates little capacity to elicit immune change. Although these data provide only modest evidence of successful immune modulation, it would be premature to conclude that the immune system is unresponsive to psychological interventions. This literature has important conceptual and methodological issues that need to be resolved before any definitive conclusions can be reached.

Source: Health Psychology

DOI: 10.1037/0278-6133.20.1.47

Authors: Gregory E. Miller, Sheldon Cohen

Institutions: Washington University in St. Louis, Carnegie Mellon University

Language: English

Topic: Stress Responses and Cortisol

Subfield: Behavioral Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institute of Mental Health